Warmth, rain, Hurricane Gonzalo in Maritime weather this week

There's a lot going on in our weather this week in the Maritimes. Here is just some of what I'm working on in the weather centre today:

High temperatures

Daytime high temperatures in the Maritimes over the next several days are expected to be way above normal for this time of year. Typical high temperatures for mid-October in the Maritimes should be in the range of 10 to 14 C — but today through Friday, temperatures reach the high teens and low 20s.

The reason for this is a large area of high pressure positioned southeast of us. The clockwise motion in the atmosphere will draw warm air from the southeastern U.S., up the Eastern Seaboard and into the Maritimes.

The warmer temperatures will not be accompanied by sunny skies through the week. Today in Nova Scotia — and around the Bay of Fundy coastline in New Brunswick — the leading edge of the warmer air has acted as a lid, keeping a deck of cloud cover in place and generating some drizzle around parts of the coast.

While P.E.I. and most of New Brunswick are seeing a good deal of sunshine today, there are changes ahead later this week: rain and gusty winds on the way for Friday.

Rain, lots of rain

The next weather system is a centre of low pressure that will move over the Great Lakes, tracking into northern Quebec Thursday through Friday. While the low doesn't come through the Maritimes, it will swing a slow moving weather front across the region on Friday.

Rain is expected for all three Maritimes provinces on Friday with the potential for some rainfall amounts to exceed 30 millimetres. Winds will also be gusty on that day, so it might be best to go with a hooded rain jacket rather than risk damage to your umbrella.

Hurricane Gonzalo

The forecast doesn't end there!

Over the past several days, we've seen an increase in activity in the Atlantic as far as tropical storms and hurricanes. Hurricane Gonzalo is forecast to strengthen to a major hurricane — Category 3 or higher — today.

Gonzalo is on a track that will take it into the vicinity of Bermuda by early Friday and from there it will be a system we will have to watch closely in Atlantic Canada heading into the weekend.

It's early days for this storm and I expect to see significant changes in the forecast for the track and speed, but the current forecast from the National Hurricane Centre encompasses some of our marine districts, Cape Breton and a large portion of Newfoundland.

Remember, the Atlantic hurricane season runs until the end of November.